the power of influence

This past year I decided that instead of making more new year's resolutions that never make it as far as February 1st,  I was going to choose a word to focus on for the entirety of 2020. You can read more about that in this post, but my word for this past year was "intentional." I tried my best to do everything I did with intentionality; the music I listened to, the books I read, the things I watched, the podcasts I listened to, the way I spent my time, etc. Now that we're nearing the end of the year, I can honestly say that I was successful in this. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't successful in always making everything I did be intentional, but I was successful in the way that I made intentionality a habit. It's now something I think about almost everyday, and something that always crosses my mind when making decisions big and small. 

So a few weeks ago I started thinking and praying about what my word for 2021 was going to be. This year has been crazy, but I think that one thing we've all noticed and can agree on is that this year has made clear the influence the media, things, and people have on other people. Sadly, the majority of the influence we see in this country is far from being Godly or wise. The current trend of progressivism we're seeing is only progressing things more and more towards evil. Things that break God's heart are considered normal in our culture and used as entertainment. You can rarely watch a show without seeing some type of sex scene. You can rarely listen to music without hearing about drugs, sex, or profanity. You can rarely scroll on social media or watch TV without seeing some type of nudity, whether in the actual posts or shows, or in the ads or commercials. The things that used to embarrass people are now not even given a second thought. 

Our country is becoming desensitized to things that were considered immoral and immodest just decades ago. 

Isaiah 5:20 says, "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!" Wow, does that not sound exactly like the state of our current culture? We read about the unfaithful and disobedient nation of Old Testament Israel and wonder how they ever managed to become so far lost. How could they have let themselves go so far astray from the Word of God? We think those things to ourselves while we watch our country get closer and closer to that point everyday. 

Ruth Graham said to her husband Billy Graham, "If God doesn't punish America, He'll have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah." 

Our nation, just like Old Testament Israel, deserves to be punished because of how far it has strayed from the commands of God.

I think it's only a matter of time before God pours His wrath down on us if we don't change and turn this country around. Just like Daniel, Jonah, Esther, and other Old Testament "heroes," thanks to the power of God, we have the ability to make a difference in the culture we live in. All it takes is a little influence. 

Influence is my word for 2021. How do I influence other people? Who and what am I letting influence me? Am I influencing this wayward culture for Christ, or am I letting it influence me instead? Those will be the things that I focus on this year because influence is powerful and is more important now than ever. 

One of the best "influencers" in the Bible is Daniel. Daniel was an Israelite living in worldly Babylon along with his three friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. King Nebuchadnezzar wanted to teach them the ways of Babylonian culture, but Daniel refused to conform, and ended up influencing the king and those around him towards Christ instead of them influencing him towards the culture. 

It's not always easy to protect yourself from being influenced by the culture like Daniel did because it's enticing. Sin isn't always ugly, and in most cases it's even attractive to us. We're constantly being influenced whether we know it or not. The people we're around, the videos, movies and shows we watch, the books we read, the music we listen to, the news we watch, and the people we follow on social media all have some sort of influence on us. 

We need to have the wisdom of God in order to be able to look at these things and determine what is of this world and what is of God. 

In the same way that we're constantly being influenced, we are also constantly influencing other people. Our friends, our family, our coworkers, our kids, our spouse and everyone else around us are constantly being influenced by the things we're doing whether we know it or not. We need to make sure that we're influencing them in a way that leads them closer to Christ and not closer to the world. But how do we do this? 

Most importantly, we can't influence a world that we look exactly like. We're in the world, but we're not of it. Just like Daniel, we're living in a place that isn't our real home. 

In order to have influence over our culture, we need to act as citizens of heaven instead of acting like citizens of the world. 

This means doing things that aren't popular, and not doing things that are popular. 

It means loving others by giving them the Truth of God, even when it doesn't sound loving to them. God's truth and love are different from the truth of the world. It's hard to accept because our sinful hearts are naturally opposed to it. 

But we should be glad the Gospel we preach is hated by the world because that means we're preaching the right one.

On His last day of life, Jesus told His disciples, "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: 'A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know who sent me."

The world hated Jesus, and it will hate us also because we belong to Him not to it. If the world likes what we're saying and agrees with us then we're doing something wrong. Those who are preaching the same things as the world but doing it in Jesus' name are preaching a false gospel. 

The Gospel of Jesus never agrees with the gospel of the world, so if we're following Him odds are we won't agree with much that the world says. 

It's easy to be led astray by the ways of the world, but sadly it seems as though more and more Christians are falling for its lies. Our influence is always important, but its becoming even more important as evil becomes more normal and celebrated in today's culture. 

Our influence doesn't only have the capability of saving this culture, but it also, and more importantly, has the capability of leading people to Jesus and saving their souls. We're the salt of the earth. We are what preserves the Word of God in a world that wants nothing to do with Him. But we aren't preserving it for ourselves. We're preserving it for Him so that He can save more lives and give more people eternity in heaven. 

"The influence God gives you is not given for the sake of 'preserving your influence.' Influence is given by God so that you can boldly and unabashedly strive to advance Christ's kingdom, not your own. Your kingdom is fleeting. Christ's kingdom is eternal." -Grant. R. Castleberry 

I challenge you to join me next year. Join me in paying close attention to what we're letting influence us so that we can better influence others towards Christ and away from the evils of this culture. Join me in praying for our world and for the hearts of those who have fallen captive to it. 

My favorite Bible verse has always been Romans 12:2. In it Paul writes, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." 

If we conform to this world, we're not only hurting ourselves, but we're also hurting those people who are influenced by us. 

So lastly, join me in praying that God will transform and renew our minds and our hearts, that He will help us to discern what His will is, and help us to look different than the world around us. Pray that in doing this we can catch the attention of others and lead them to the One who provides real Truth and real Love better than any truth or love the world offers. 

With Love,